Immobilization attachment for an orthopedic traction shoe or boot



W. BLESS IMMOBILIZATION ATTACHMENT FOR AN ORTHOPEDIC TRACTION SHOE 0R BOOT Flled Sept 17, 1958 Nov. 8, 1960 INVENOR. WlLLlAM BLESS 9 n m T L m w n M o W R 0A Y cR B United States Patent IMJVIOBILIZATION ATTACHMENT FOR AN OR- THOPEDIC TRACTION SHOE OR BOOT William Bless, 198 Mayfair Blvd., Columbus 13, Ohio Filed Sept. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 761,517

3 Claims. (Cl. 128-80) When a traction shoe of the type disclosed in my copending application is used to apply traction to the foot of a patient in bed, it is sometimes desirable to immobilize the foot in a lateral direction. Sometimes this is desirable for both feet. Therefore, according to the present invention, I provide an arrangement comprising an immobilization bar and attaching means whereby one foot or both feet can be immobilized on the bed to prevent lateral movement thereof. Furthermore, the immobilization arrangement which I provide, according to this invention, will not interfere with the application of traction by means of, the shoe described in my copending application. The immobilization attachment of this invention provides forany desiredjangulation and spread of limbs due to simple adjustments provided in connection therewith. It provides for rapid connection to and removal from one or both of the traction shoes on a patient.

Various other objects and advantages will be apparent as this description progresses.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention but it is to be understood that specific details may be varied without departing from basic principles.

In this drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a traction shoe to which my immobilization attachment is applied.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the shoe with the attachment thereon.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the shoe and attachment along line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the use of the immobilization attachment on one traction shoe.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the use of an immobilization bar and attaching means in connection with two traction shoes on a patient.

With reference to the drawing, I have illustrated a traction shoe of the type disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 754,243. This shoe comprises the upper and the full sole unit 11. The toe is open, as indicated at 12, and the extending toe section 13 of the sole is hinged to the main sole section 14 at the joint 15.

As described in the copending application, to provide means for connecting the shoe to the traction appliance, the lower fiat surface of the sole section 14 is provided with connecting eyes or loops 17 which are arranged in longitudinally spaced relationship along the center line of the sole section 14. In order that these eyes 17 will not contact the floor surface when the patient is walking, a heel support 18, a toe support 19, and an intermediate support 20 are provided as described in said application.

In using this type of orthopedic shoe, it is applied to the patients foot, assuming he is in bed, and the traction appliance is connected thereto by means of a hook 26 on the end of the cable which can be hooked into any of the eyes 17, as shown in Figure 4. The present invention provides for an immobilization attachment to be used in connection with this type of traction-applying shoe without interfering with the connection of the traction appliance thereto.

This immobilization attachment includes a bar connecting bracket 30 of substantially rectangular form which is applied to the bottom of the sole section 14. This bracket 30 is preferably made of resilient metal and has a large rectangular opening 30a in most of its area. This bracket is attached to the sole section 14 by means of a pivot bolt 31. This bolt 31 is mounted in the sole section 14 just ahead of the heel support 18 and projects downwardly therebelow. It extends through a pivot opening in the bracket 30 and the bracket 30 will extend rearwardly in overlapping relationship to the lower surface of the support 18. A wing nut 32 and washer 33 are provided on the lower end of the bolt 31. The bolt 31 is removable from the sole section 14, when the nut 32 and washer 33 are removed, so that the shoe can be used by the patient in walking when used as the ordinary traction-applying shoe, as described in said application.

The bracket 30 extends forwardly under the sole section 14 and is retained in adjusted position angularly about the axis of the pivot 31 by means of a clamping bolt 34. This bolt 34 is removably mounted in the sole seotion 14 bolt 34 is directly behind the support 20. As indicated inwFigure 2, the forward end of the bracket 30 is provided with a' seriesof bolt-receiving openings 37arrangedin an arc with its center of curvature at the axis of thebolt 31. These laterally spaced openings 37 provide means for adjusting and retaining the angular position of the bracket 30 about the axis of the bolt 31. The bolt 34 may be positioned in any selected opening 37 to adjust the angular position of the bracket as desired. The nut 35 will clamp the bracket in this position and in this clamping operation may bow the bracket 30 slightly upwardly as shown in Figure 3.

For receiving and retaining the immobilization bar 46, the rear end of the bracket 30 is provided with an upstanding retaining flange 41. The bar 40 is connected to the bracket 30 with its outer edge in engagement with this flange and the bolt 31 passes through an opening in the bracket 30. Thus, the bar 40 is attached to the bracket 30 so that it will not swing relative thereto. However, to adjust the angle of the shoe and, therefore, that of the patients foot relative to the bracket it is merely necessary to position the bolt 34 in the selected opening 37 which swings the sole section 14 of the shoe relative to the bracket 30 and bar 40 about the axis of the bolt 31, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2.

In Figure 4, I have illustrated the use of the immobilization bar 40 in connection with the bracket 30 applied to a traction shoe of the type indicated. The bar 49 will rest on the bed and keep the foot pointed upwardly in a vertical position. The traction appliance can still be used in applying the traction by having the hook 26 extend through the central opening 30a in the bracket 30. Although the bracket 30 is shown upright and at right angles to the bar 40 which will rest on edge flat on the bed, the traction shoe can be adjusted to various angles relative to the upright bracket 30 to position the foot as desired.

In Figure 5, I have illustrated a different arrangement whereby both feet of a patient are immobilized by a bar 40b applied to brackets 30b which are attached to the traction shoes. In this case the retaining flange 41b will be angularly disposed relative to the bracket 30b so that the brackets 30b will be at diverging angles relative to the bar 40b which will rest with its lower edge flat on the bed. However, here again the angular position of each foot may be independently adjusted by adjusting the angular position of the shoe relative to its associated bracket 30b by changing the position of the bolt 34b in the openings 37b. The spacing of the shoes and, therefore, the patients feet may be changed by varying the position of the pivot bolts 31b in a series of openings 42 spaced longitudinally in the bar 4012.

The appliance of this invention, as will be apparent from the above, comprises a bracket connected to an immobilization bar in fixed angular position, but connected to the traction shoe by a pivot arrangement and a clamp arrangement which permits selective setting 'of the shoe angularly relative to the bracket. Furthermore, the bracket is so formed that regardless of its position the traction fastening members along the sole are exposed.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have provided a simple and inexpensive immobilization attachment which can be used in connection with the trac-i tion shoe described in my copending application without interfering with the application of traction by means of such shoe. However, in some instances, it may be desirable to use the immobilization attachment with such shoe for immobilization purposes only and without the application of traction.

Although I have described many advantages of my attachment, others will be apparent.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, the principles of this invention have been explained and have been illustrated and described in what is now considered to represent the best embodiment. However, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination with an orthopedic traction applying shoe having fastening means on the sole thereof by means of which the shoe may be attached to a traction applying device, a foot immobilizing device attached to the shoe, said device comprising a bracket and an immobilizing bar connected together at a fixed angle, means for connecting said bracket to the shoe with said fastening means on the sole exposed, said connecting means including a pivot between the shoe sole and the bracket for relative adjustment, means between the shoe and the bracket for retaining the adjustment, said bracket being open throughout its area to expose said fastening means which comprises fastening members spaced longitudinally along the center line of the shoe, said pivot being located adjacent the heel, and said adjustment-retaining means comprising a series of spaced openings in said bracket along an are having its center at the axis of the pivot, and a retaining pin carried by the sole of the shoe and adapted to be selectively positioned in any of said bracket openings.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the pivot is a pivot pin that passes through the alining pivot openings in said bracket and said bar.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which the bar is provided with a series of longitudinally spaced pivot openings, any one of which may receive said pivot pin.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,871,851 Swanson Feb. 3, 1 959 FOREIGN PATENTS 912,889 France May 13, 1946 

